Mop and refill therefor



Sept. 4, 1956 c. A. CHANNELL MOP AND REFILL THEREFOR Filed Jan. 14, 1950 (bar/e5 Arf/w/r Channel! Z 93 3;; {MM m 5 2,76 1,161 Patented Sept. 4, 1956 filice MOP AND REFILL THEREFOR Charles Arthur Channel], Wilmette, Ill.., assignor to Joseph H. Trindl, Chicago, Ill.

Application January 14, 1950, Serial No. 138,585 4 Claims. (Cl. -419) This invention relates to improvements in a mop and refill therefor, and more particularly to a mop of the character utilized for household purposes wherein the actual floor contacting element is replaceable when worn, although the invention will have other uses and purposes as will be apparent to one skilled in the art.

In the past, many and various types of scrubbing and polishing mops for household use have been developed, and many of these mops embodied a refill in the form of a sponge-like block or element, such as cellulose sponge, which could be removed and replaced when desired. Also, in many cases heretofore, attempts have been made to provide such mops of a self-wringing character, wherein portions of the mop head were utilized to compress the refill or sponge-like element so as to expel water from the element. These formerly known devices of this character, however, were subject to various disadvantages and objections, including the fact that they were most frequently objectionably costly due to their complicated structure and the use of a considerable amount of metal, the fact that the wringing operation could be performed only with difficulty and was not as efiicient as desirable, the fact that the mop structure was so heavy as to fatigue the user in a relatively short length of time, the fact that the refill could not only be changed with objectionable difficulty, and the fact that it was possible to inadvertently contact metal or hard parts of the mop structure against the floor, baseboard, furniture, and the like.

With the foregoing in mind, it is an important object of the instant invention to provide a household mop or the like that may readily be used either as a wet or dry mop for scrubbing or polishing, and which is simpler in construction than devices of this character heretofore known.

Also an object of this invention is the provision of a household mop which is extremely light in weight, thus easy to use for a long period of time Without fatigue, and which by virtue of its lightness in weight is extremely economical to transport and ship.

A further feature of this invention resides in the provision of a household mop more economical to manufacture than devices of the same general character heretofore known, in that considerably less material, especially metal, is utilized in the mop construction.

Another feature of the invention resides in the provision of a mop embodying a sponge-like floor contacting element, so constructed that there is no chance of metal or hard parts of the loop construction contacting floors,

baseboards, furniture, or the like.

A further object of this invention is the provision of a mop structure embodying a refill element, so constructed as to eliminate complicated operations, and making it more simple to remove and replace the refill element than devices of this character heretofore known.

A further object of this invention is the provision of a household mop embodying a sponge-like floor contacting element with the head of the mop adapted to compress that element to squeeze moisture therefrom, the entire structure being such that the operators hands need not contact the sponge-like element during the wringing process.

It is still a further feature of this invention to provide a household mop embodying a sponge-like floor contacting element with means incorporated in the mop structure to compress that element to squeeze moisture therefrom, the structure being such that very little pres sure'is required to thoroughly wring the sponge-like element and such pressure may be extremely easily applied. While some of the more salient features, characteristics and advantages of the instant invention have been above pointed out, others will become apparent from the following disclosures, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a mop structure embodying principles of the instant invention, showing the mopstick broken away;

Figure 2 is a side elevational side view of the structure of Fig. 1;

Figure 3 is an enlarged transverse vertical sectional view taken substantially as indicated by the line III--III of Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows; and

Figure 4 is a transverse sectional view taken in substantially the same location as Fig. 3, but showing the parts in position to squeeze moisture from the floor contacting element of the mop structure.

As shown on the drawings:

In the illustrated embodiment of this invention, there is shown a mop structure including a head generally made up of two separate parts hinged together. One of these parts is in the form of a substantially flat elongated strip 1, preferably of rustproo-f metal, having a pair of spaced intermediately disposed tongues 2-2 extending rearwardly and curled around a pivot pin 3, as best seen in Figs. 3 and 4. In the illustrated embodiment of the invention, it is thisstrip or plate 1 that actually carries the floor contacting element of the mop.

The other part of the head structure is in the form of a strip or plate, preferably of rustproof metal, angularly bent longitudinally thereof as indicated at 4, to provide forwardly and rearwardly angularly disposed flanges 5 and 6, respectively. The forward flange 5 is provided with a pair of intermediately disposed spaced tongues 7--7, also curled around the pivot pin 3, but obviously in the op posite direction to the aforesaid tongues 2-2 on the flat plate 1. Thus, it will be seen that both plates are hingedly connected together along adjacent edges thereof.

The angular plate carries a socket 8 for a handle or mopstick 9 of any desirable material and length, which mopstick is readily insertable in the handle in a well known manner. The socket 8 has a forwardly and downwardly turned flange 19 extending therefrom to lie in face-to-face relationship against the forward flange 5 of the angular plate as best seen in Figs. 3 and 4. This flange is preferably spot welded or equivalently secured to the flange 5. On the forward portion thereof, the socket 8 also carries a resilient gripping element 11 sized to frictionally receive the shank portion of a handle 12, the forward end of which is firmly held by a stirrup 13 spot welded or equivalently secured to the forward plate 1.

The instant mop is provided with a floor contacting element or refill 14 which in most cases will preferably be of an elongated block shape having a substantially rectangular cross section, as illustrated, but it will be understood that other shapes may be desirable for some purposes. The refill is preferably spongedike and might satisfactorily be made of cellulose sponge material. A flexible cover 15, which may satisfactorily be made of a suitable fabric, is cemented or equivalently secured over the upper face of the element 14. Preferably, this cover 15 is not secured to the sponge-like refill 14 in the immediate vicinity of the hinge pin'3. Between the top surface of the refill 14 and the cover 15 is a pair of spaced substantially flatstrips 16 and 17 which may be suitably made of rustproof metal. These strips are, of course, maintained fixedly in position by virtue of the direct attachment of the strips themselves to the refill 14 and the attachment of the cover 15 to the strips as well as the refill, or they may be satisfactorily retained in position by the attachment of the cover only to the refill. The strips 16 and 17 not only stiffen the floor contacting element at the top thereof, but also provide means for attaching the element to the mop head and aid in the compression of the element when the same is wrung out. It should be noted that the strips while extending lengthwise ot the element, are spaced inwardly from the front and rear sides of the element, as clearly seen in Fig. 3, and they are also spaced inwardly from the ends of the element, as is apparent from the showing in Fig. 2, wherein the strips are completely invisible.

The forward strip 16 carries attaching means thereon, and in the illustrated instance these attaching means are in the form of a pair of spaced bolts 18-18 welded or equivalently secured at their base to the strip, and the shank portions of which extend upwardly through the cover 15. The forward plate 1 of the mop head is apertured to receive these bolts, so that the entire refill may be attached to the mop head by merely placing the refill against the underside of the forward plate 1 with the bolts 18 projecting through the apertures in that plate, and then securing a pair of wing nuts 19-19 to the bolts above the plate 1 of the mop head. To release the mop element 14, it is an extremely simple expedient to take E the wing nuts 19-49 and drop the mop element from the head.

It should also be noted that the mop element 14, as clearly seen in Fig. 1, projects well beyond each end of the mop head structure and forwardly well beyond the edge of the plate 1. With this arrangement, and the fact that the strips 16 and 17 are completely enclosed, no metallic or hard part of the mop will ever contact the floor, baseboard, or furniture, during the use of the mop.

It is obvious from the above disclosure, that the mop may equally as well be utilized as a polishing mop or a scrubbing mop. When in use, the handle attached to the forward head plate 1 is engaged in the frictional holding element 11 on the socket 8 as seen in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 of the drawings. It will be noted that during use the angular head plate is disposed with the forward flange 5 in an upwardly and rearwardly inclined position from the mop element 14, while the flange 6 extends substantially laterally into contact with the lower edge of the socket 8. Thus, the angular head plate is maintained well elevated above the floor contacting part of the mop, if the handle 9 is held in normal position. There is, therefore, no danger of the angular head plate ever contacting the floor, because it is substantially impossible for the user to apply sufficient pressure or lower the mopstick 9 sufliciently for this plate to ever contact the floor, baseboard, furniture, or the like. The connection between the handle socket 8 and the bent head plate, with the flat laterally extending portion 6 of that plate contacting the lower edge of the socket 8, provides an adequate stiffening and reinforcing of the socket connection without adding extra weight to the structure, permits some limited pivotal movement of the handle 9 during use of the mop, and further provides for positive pressure of the socket on the lateral portion 6 of the plate during the mop wringing operation, as seen in Fig. 4.

Assuming that the mop has been used for scrubbing purposes, so that the element 14 is saturated with a liquid, and it is desired to wring out the element, it is a simple expedient to release the handle 12 from the catch 11, hold this handle in one hand, grasp the mopstick 9 adjacent the socket 8 in the other hand, and move these 4 handles away from each other to substantially the position seen in Fig. 4, thus causing the two plates in the mop head to pivot and compress the element 14 between them. It will be noted that the ease in compression of the element 14 is greatly enhanced by the flange 6 on the angular head plate, since this flange will come down and bear against the rear side face of the element 14 during compression as clearly illustrated in Fig. 4.

At the same time, the forward head plate 1 bears against the top face of the element 14 so that this element is forced to buckle as indicated at in Fig. 4 during compression, and only a moderate pressure is needed to effectively squeeze the liquid out of the sponge-like element. In this extremely simple operation, it will be noted that the operators hands need never contact the spongelike element and may remain perfectly dry.

From the foregoing, it is apparent that I have provided an extremely economical, light weight and highly efficient mop structure in which no metallic or hard parts will ever come in contact with the floor, baseboard, furniture or the like, and in which the refill or floor contacting element may be replaced in an extremely simple and expeditious manner. 'It will also be noted that the refill may be wrung out or have the moisture squeezed therefrom by a most simple and easy operation while the hands of the operator remain dry.

It will be understood that modifications and variations may be effected without departing from the scope of the novel concepts of the present invention.

1 claim as my invent-ion:

1. In a mop, a head including a pair :of elongated plates hingedly connected along adjacent side edges, one of said plates being substantially flat, the other being bent lengthwise thereof to define fiat 'angularly related portions one of which extends downwardly to the hinge connection and the other of which extends laterally, a spongy element carried by said flat plate, a mopstick socket having an attaching flange extend-ing forwardly and downwardly at an angle to the socket and secured in face to face relationship with the hinge side of said bent plate, the free side of said bent plate extending substantially laterally into edgewise engagement with the socket well above said element, whereby said bent plate is in an elevated position spaced from said spongy element when the mop is m use.

2. In a mop, a head including a pair :of elongated hingedly connected plates, one of said plates being substantially flat, the other being bent lengthwise thereof to provide a flat portion extending downwardly to the hinge connection and a flat laterally extending portion, a spongy element carried by said flat plate, a mopstick socket having an attaching flange extending forwardly and downwardly at an angle to the socket and secured in face to face relationship with the hinge side of said bent plate, the free side of said bent plate extending substantially laterally into edgewise engagement with the socket well above said element, whereby said bent plate is in an elevated position spaced from said spongy element when the mop is in use, and a relatively short handle on said flat plate, the hinge connection between said plates extending substantially centrally over said element, said plates being relatively pivotal to compress said spongy element therebetween and cause a flow of liquid outwardly from the top central part of the element to wash out accumulated dir-t.

3. In a mop, a head including a pair :of hingedly connected elongated members, one of which members is substantially flat and the other of which is bent lengthwise to provide a pair of flange faces at an angle to each other, a stick socket connected to one of said members, a handle on the other of said members disposed adjacent said socket when the mop is in use, a spongy element carried by said head, a flexible covering on said element, a pair of spaced rigid strips between said covering and said element and disposed on opposite sides of the hinge connecr tion between said members, means for engagement :by the flat member of said head carried by one only of said strips for removably attaching said element to said head, and said bent head member contacting said covering above the other strip when the socket and the handle are widely separated to compress said element between said head members and cause the element to buckle centrally into a fold whereby dirt is washed out of said element with the discharged moisture.

4. In a mop, a head including a pair of elongated plates hingedly connected together along adjacent edges, one of said plates rbeing fiat, the other plate being bent longitudinally thereof to provide a flat portion extending down- Wardly to the hinge connection and a flat laterally extending elevated portion, a handle socket having an offset flange connected to said downwardly extending portion and said socket contacting the edge of said laterally extending portion, handle means on said flat plate, and a spongy element secured to said flat plate and extending laterally beneath said lateral portion of the other plate with the hinge connection between the plates substantially centrally :over said element.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,551,668 Johnson Sept. 1, 192'5 2,044,075 Jelenfy June 16, 1936 2,186,050 Vaughn Jan. 9,1940 2,196,837 Rader Apr. 9,1940 2,222,368 Lux Nov. 19,1940 2,251,384 Thomas Aug. 5, 1941 2,449,281 Dalton Sept. '14, 1948 2,515,403 Greenleaf et a1 July '18, 1950 2,632,192 Mallory Mar. 24, 1953 2,641,787 Vosbikian et a1 June 16, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 122,016 Sweden June 22, 1948 807,925 France Apr. 23, 1937 844,035 France Apr. 1 1, 1939 

